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Members of the Recovery Team watch as OSCAR and Vertigo Helicopters leave hanger to intercept capsule |
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The Utah Test & Training Range provides the largest
overland contiguous block of restricted airspace in
the continental United States authorized for supersonic
flight, available for aircrew training and weapons testing.
The airspace, situated over 6,796 square kilometers
(2,624 square miles), is under the jurisdiction of the
U.S. Air Force. The remainder is managed by the U.S.
Army at Dugway Proving Ground. Airspace boundaries do
not necessarily coincide with the boundaries of the
Defense Department land beneath the airspace.
Operated and maintained by the 388th Range Squadron
based out of Hill Air Force Base some 50 miles to the
east, the Utah Test & Training Range supports training
numerous branches of the armed services and their allies
with capabilities for air-to ground, air-to-air and
ground force exercises. More than 22,000 training sorties
and more than 1,000 test sorties are flown out on the
range annually. It is used for testing munitions and
propellants up to the most powerful ICBM rocket motors
and non-nuclear explosive components.
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| Monument purchased and designed by Genesis team members to commemorate the return to Earth |
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View from space of the Utah Test and Training Range post return |
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The Air Force range is supporting Genesis by providing
range imagery and targeting guidance. The range's mission
control center — located at Hill Air Force Base — will radio information to the helicopter crews.
An Air Force building at the Army's Michael Army Air
Field will be home to the clean room erected to temporarily
house the Genesis capsule after it is captured. |
